Hindustan Media Ventures Limited

Communication Services — Publishing · NSE

₹77.20−₹1.48 (−1.88%)

DalalBaazaar Score

63 / 100

🟢 Good

Verdict

REASONABLE

Risk

High

Driven by high debt relative to equity, micro-cap size, which brings thin liquidity.

In simple words: The business is earning a fairly low return on the money invested in it, with modest growth. Debt is the main factor to watch.

Decision support, not a buy or sell call.

As of 18 Oct 2026, 8:26 pm

Understanding the Business

Company site ↗

The 60-second version of Hindustan Media Ventures Limited — what it does, how it earns, and who it competes with, before any of the numbers below.

What does this company do?

Hindustan Media Ventures Limited engages in the publishing business in India.

IndustryPublishing

SectorCommunication Services

Employees1,047

Annual revenue₹674 Cr

How does it make money?

Turns over ₹674 Cr a year. Of every ₹100 of sales, about ₹7 reaches shareholders as profit, with ₹28 left at the operating level before interest, tax and depreciation. Each of its 1,047 employees supports ₹64.3 lakh of revenue a year, the signature of a people-led business.

Revenue / employee₹64.3 lakh

Who are its competitors?

The closest listed comparisons in its industry are BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED, VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED. These are the companies its valuation and returns are measured against elsewhere in this report.

Compared side by side in Peers ↓

What is its competitive advantage?Little sign of one

Returns on capital of 10.4% are at or below what the capital likely costs. That is the financial pattern of a business competing largely on price, where advantage has to come from execution rather than position.

Peer median ROE20.2%

What has been driving growth?

Profit has moved mainly because margins changed, not because the business sold much more. Over 3 years revenue moved +1% while net margin moved -227% relative to itself. What this cannot tell you is which products, customers or geographies did the work — that lives in the segment disclosures of the annual report.

Revenue effect+1%

Margin effect-227%

DalalBaazaar Score

63/ 100

Good

Weighted across six categories. Every point is explained below.

✗ Revenue CAGR of only 0.3% — barely ahead of inflation

Quality vs. Valuation

Company Quality

61/ 100

Average

How good the business is, ignoring the share price entirely.

Valuation

88/ 100

Cheap

What you are being asked to pay, ignoring how good the business is.

A reasonable business at a reasonable price — neither the quality nor the valuation stands out in either direction.

Historical Valuation

Current P/E

4.4x

2Y Median

11.7x

28 monthly readings · mean 32.7x · range 5.3x–70.3x

Sector Median

21.7x

median of 2 sector peers

🟢Current valuation is approximately 62% below its 2y median of 11.7x. Cheaper than its own history, which is worth a reason too: the market may be pricing in something the backward-looking numbers do not show.

🟢Against its sector it trades 80% below the peer median of 21.7x.

vs. its own history

Cheap

11.7x median over 28 months · -62%

vs. sector peers

Cheap

21.7x median of 2 peers · -80%

vs. generic bands

Cheap

Below 15x

EV/EBITDA

3.4x

PEG

—

What's Good / What's Bad

🟢 What's Going Well5

Margins are improving
EBITDA margin is up from 0.5% to 27.9% over 3 years.
Debt is being paid down
Total debt is down 20% over 3 years.
Cash generation is improving
Free cash flow is up 82% over 3 years.
Return on equity is rising
ROE has improved from -2.6% to 3.1%.
Return on capital is rising
ROCE has improved from -2.5% to 10.4%.

🔴 What Needs Attention0

Nothing stands out as clearly deteriorating on the years of data available.

Red Flags

1 item require attention · 1 high

🔴High leverageFinancial
Debt/Equity of 5.35x — earnings must service borrowings before shareholders see anything.

Investment Thesis

🟢 Bull CaseWhat could make this work?

Margin expansion has further to run
EBITDA margin has risen from 0.5% to 27.9%. If that holds, profit compounds faster than sales and today's multiple looks cheaper in hindsight than it does now.
Deleveraging frees up earnings
Debt is down 20% over 3 years. Every rupee of interest not paid drops to the bottom line, so profit can grow even if revenue does not.
Priced below its own history
The stock trades 62% below its own median multiple. If the business performs as it has and simply re-rates back to normal, that gap is return on its own.
Cheaper than its peers
It trades 80% below the sector median. Either the market sees a problem the numbers do not show, or the discount closes.

🔴 Bear CaseWhat could go wrong?

Leverage amplifies any setback
Debt/Equity of 5.35x. Interest is payable whether or not the business has a good year.
Growth barely outpaces inflation
Revenue compounding at 0.3% a year is close to the rate prices rise, so the business is gaining little ground in real terms. That leaves the share price dependent on a re-rating rather than on earnings growth.
Earnings are hard to forecast
Profit has swung sharply from year to year, so any single year — good or bad — is a weak guide to the next. Cyclical earnings deserve lower multiples for that reason.
Size brings its own risk
Micro Cap businesses are thinly traded, so exits are harder in a falling market and single events move the price more than they would for a larger company.

🟡 Key Things to WatchMeasurable tripwires, set against where this company stands today

1EBITDA margin holds above 26%✓ 27.9%
Two points below today's level — enough room for noise, tight enough to catch real compression.
2Revenue growth stays above 4% a year✗ 0.3% CAGR
Latest reported year was 7.8%. The bar is set below the established compounding rate, so ordinary variation does not trip it.
3Free cash flow remains positive✓ ₹70 Cr
Profit that never becomes cash eventually stops being profit.
4Debt / EBITDA stays below 2x✓ 0.5x
The ratio lenders write covenants against; it survives a small or negative equity base, unlike Debt/Equity.
5ROCE stays above 8%✓ 10.4%
Falling returns on capital are usually competition arriving, and show up here before they reach the margin.

Investment Checklist

7 / 11 checks passed

✗ Strong return on equity (ROE ≥ 15%)
✗ Strong return on capital employed (ROCE ≥ 15%)
✓ Healthy net margin (≥ 10%)
✓ Generates positive free cash flow
✗ Manageable leverage (Debt/Equity < 1.0)
✓ Adequate short-term liquidity (Current Ratio ≥ 1.0)
✓ Revenue growing year-over-year
✓ Profit growing year-over-year
✓ Not trading at an extreme valuation (P/E < 40x)
✓ Not buying right at the 52-week high
✗ Short-term technical trend isn't bearish

Price history

Quick Metrics

5 good · 4 neutral · 2 weak

Market Cap

₹569 Cr

Micro Cap

Smaller company — thin liquidity and deep drawdowns are normal here

P/E (Trailing)

4.4x

Cheap

Cheap against the generic band

P/B Ratio

0.36x

Reasonable

Reasonable against the company's book value

EPS (TTM)

₹17.44

Profitable

Profitable on a per-share basis

ROE

3.1%

Weak

Weak capital efficiency

ROCE

10.4%

Moderate

Moderate return on the capital in the business

Debt/Equity

5.35x

High

High leverage

Revenue Growth (YoY)

7.8%

Modest

Modest growth

Profit Growth (YoY)

400.0%

Healthy

Profits growing at a healthy clip

Dividend Yield

None

No dividend yield reported — usually means no payout, but verify if one was recently initiated

Free Cash Flow

₹70 Cr

Cash generative

Generates cash even after funding its capex

More Metrics

P/E (Forward)

2.6x

Improving

Below the trailing multiple — the street expects earnings to grow into the price

Operating Margin

12.4%

Average

Average margins

Net Margin

11.6%

Good

Strong bottom-line conversion

Current Ratio

1.51

Comfortable

Healthy short-term liquidity

Beta (vs Nifty)

0.33

Defensive

Steadier than the market

52W Range Position

42%

Mid-range

Technical Snapshot

SMA 20 / SMA 50

76.6 / 83.5

Bearish alignment (short < long)

Price vs SMA 200

Above

Long-term uptrend

RSI (14)

60.0

Neutral momentum

Financial Trend (4-Year)

Metric	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	3Y CAGR
Revenue	₹668 Cr	₹678 Cr	₹633 Cr	₹674 Cr	+0.3%
EBITDA	₹4 Cr	₹39 Cr	₹170 Cr	₹188 Cr	+271.3%
EBITDA Margin	0.5%	5.8%	26.8%	27.9%	—
PAT (Net Profit)	-₹38 Cr	₹10 Cr	₹78 Cr	₹49 Cr	—
EPS	₹-5.17	₹1.35	₹10.56	₹6.61	—
ROE	-2.6%	0.7%	5.1%	3.1%	—
ROCE	-2.5%	0.3%	11.4%	10.4%	—
Total Debt	₹107 Cr	₹85 Cr	₹40 Cr	₹85 Cr	-7.4%
Free Cash Flow	₹38 Cr	₹2 Cr	₹33 Cr	₹70 Cr	+22.1%

🟡 Revenue has been broadly flat over 3 years (0.3% a year).

🟢 EBITDA has grown at 271.3% a year over 3 years.

🟢 EBITDA Margin has risen from 0.5% to 27.9% over 3 years (+27.3 pts).

🟢 PAT (Net Profit) has turned positive, from -₹38 Cr to ₹49 Cr.

🟢 EPS has turned positive, from ₹-5.17 to ₹6.61.

🟢 ROE has risen from -2.6% to 3.1% over 3 years (+5.6 pts).

🟢 ROCE has risen from -2.5% to 10.4% over 3 years (+12.9 pts).

🟢 Total Debt has shrunk at 7.4% a year over 3 years.

🟢 Free Cash Flow has grown at 22.1% a year over 3 years.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow — FY2026

Total Assets

₹2,466 Cr

Total Liabilities

₹878 Cr

Cash & Equivalents

₹17 Cr

Operating Cash Flow

₹72 Cr

Capex

-₹3 Cr

Shareholding (proxy)

Institutional Holding

0.0%

Insider Holding

86.8%

Corporate Actions

Ex-Dividend Date

09 Sept 2019

Peer Comparison

Company	P/E	ROE
BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED	39.8x	20.2%
VODAFONE IDEA LIMITED	3.6x	—

Recent News

1 positive5 general

HINDUSTAN MEDIA VENTURES Share Price

Upstox, 16 Oct

Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd. Upper Circuit: Price and Key Data

Univest, 30 Sept

Hindustan Media Ventures net profit surges 398% in Q1FY26

scanx.trade, 04 AugResults

🟢Potentially positiveReported improvement. Check whether it came from volume, price or a one-off item before treating it as a trend.

Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd

Equitypandit, 13 Nov

Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd. Share Price Live Today

CNBC TV18, 03 Jan

Hindustan Media Ventures vs Nifty 50: Returns Compared

Univest, 25 Sept

Watch Items

Cross-check against the company's latest quarterly filing / investor presentation before acting.

DalalBaazaar Thesis

StrongBusiness Quality · Financial Health · Valuation

MiddlingProfitability

WeakGrowth · Risk

Points for each in the Score ↑

Unremarkable in both directions

A reasonable business at a reasonable price. Nothing here is alarming and nothing is compelling, which usually means the decision rests on things this data cannot see — the industry's direction, management's intent, and what else is available to you. 1 high-severity red flag sits above this conclusion and should be read first.

1 of 5 tripwires tripped — Revenue growth stays above 4% a year · see Key things to watch ↑